Step 6: Final check, tuning, and operation.

This is my homemade DIY Vaporizer. I mostly vaporize herbal mixtures, but it would work as well for tobacco. It uses convection (only hot air touches the plant material) which makes a cleaner vapor than induction (where the heat source touches the plant material). Some scientific evidence suggests that vaporization puts fewer carcinogens in a vaporizers (the person doing the vaporizing). Some evidence suggests that it doesn't make any difference. I think it tastes cleaner, and probably isn't any worse than smoking. Convection vaporization is a feeling which is subjectively distinct from smoking or the other sort of vaporization, and better in my humble opinion.
WARNINGS:
While commercial vaporizers use it, I don't believe that PVC is safe enough for this purpose. Don't use it. As you can see I I've read about leeching in medical products (while they were using specific chemicals), and also read that the PVC should not be heated over 180F which is not enough. Silicone tubing can be bought online. I use thin copper tubing.
Where I live smoking tobacco is restricted to people 18 and over. If your under 18 don't make this, don't smoke, or vaporize, or whatever. While vaporization may reduce the health hazards associated with inhaling plant material, I'm certain that it does not completely eliminate them. Don't smoke. It's addictive and bad for your health. Depending on what region or country you live in, it may be illegal to consume specific herbs. Make sure that the herbal blend you choose is legal in your region. This guide is not intended to assist in the illegal (And highly immoral) consumption of banned plant materials.
This vaporizer is a fire hazard. It's cheap and easy to make, but there's a trade off. This one cost me about $25. A similar commercial vaporizer would cost 150-250$.
You might consider buying one of those wall timers so that if you leave your vaporizer plugged in by accident it will only run as long as you set the timer for. This is a must if you plan on vaporizing any herbs which may induce forgetfulness. Don't start a fire!
Further I've been warned that copper fumes are vary dangerous. I don't think copper will fume at the temperatures I'm subjecting it to.
That said the consensus among many smokers is that the most sure healthiest thing to smoke out of is glass. If you find a good way to do this with glass, more power to you! For now my brass on glass design might be the best DIYers can hope for.
One more warning: Don't use a soldering iron that has come anywhere near solder. Solder is super poisonous nasty stuff. Just buy a new one. They are really not that expensive.

Step 1: Materials.

"A wall socket timer"This is for the socket where you plug your vaporizer into. With the timer you set the timer for as long as you plan on using your vaporizer so that it shuts off automatically. If your at all forgetful this is a must. Some herbs have even been suggested to bring about forgetfulness. If you plan on vaporizing any such herbs the timer is must!A (few) bottle(s).I used a large 1.75 liter Gvori vodka bottle.Gvori is my favorite vodka, and their bottle is awesome. Other bottles should work, but you'll want to vary the end of the fitting that goes against the bottle (more on that later). This should be free. If you don't have a good bottle laying around someone near your probably does. Since breaking a bottle is a chaotic thing you will want to have back-up in the case your first doesn't work (it probably won't).A soldering iron (at least 40 watts).I used a generic radio shack one. It cost about 7$. A radio shack one is probably best since their design is so simple. Anything more complicated will only get in your way.Thin copper tubing.I used 1/4 inch. It's flexible, but don't bend it into too sharp of an angle or you will get a kink (they're almost impossible to get out).A brass or copper fitting.I used a copper fitting I picked out which allowed the copper tubing to barely slide through it on the narrow threaded end, that was big enough on the other end to make a good bowl and fit against the neck of the bottle. The one I bought from lowes is labled 3/8" flare X 3/8" FIP. I would suggest looking ahead in the instructions before you purchase any type of fitting for this project.Two pairs of pliers, at least one of which is needle noseA serrated knife or dremel for cutting through the plastic handle of the soldering iron.A coat hanger.A hammer.A screenThe type bought at smoke-shops to go in the bottom of a pipe.

&nbsp;FYI, there's no need for the electrical tape. Glass is easily sanded to a smooth surface. This will make your &quot;device&quot; much less ghetto.

&quot;Glass is easily sanded&quot;......On what planet is the second hardest substance &quot;easy to sand?&quot;

First, glass isn't the second hardest substance, not even third, or fourth, or even fifth, not on any list I was able to find online (Google Mohs scale). Second, I used to do glass lamp shades and glass mosaic, and we used a simple tabletop grinder with a grinding wheel that lasted for more than 25 years and wasn't anything exotic (not diamond at all), we would then retouch some parts by hand with a sanding block. I guess you are basing your affirmation on some &quot;high-end&quot; application of grinding glass which isn't the case at all :/...

On Earth. Try it.

Simply not true. I am a glassblower AND a laboratory optician. I grind glass all day long and it takes DIAMOND grit to do it and it has to be under hundreds of pounds of pressure. No way you can call it &quot;easy to sand&quot;. Easy to SCRATCH sure but to actually remove a noticeable amount of material? That is beyond most peoples abilities/tools. You can GRIND glass on a grinder fairly easily because of the speed. Sanding implies a hand process. Very difficult.

MFW I've sanded glass and it worked fine... <br>

ROFL, what kind of glassblower/laboratory optician has a name fly_boy_bc?

One who is a pilot.

Good point, but a juvenile pilot born before recorded time?

Ok jeez. I'm basing this on personal experience. I bought an 18&quot; x 18&quot; x 0.5&quot; piece of glass that I had cut. The edges were super sharp. So I took regular sandpaper and sanded the edges and low and behold, it smoothed them out pretty easily.

Let me begin by complementing your build quality. superb, simple, effective.<br><br>That said, I'd like to figure out a way to get the bowl to stay in place on it's own, and perhaps mount the bottle vertically so convection will happen passively (rather than letting the heating coil burn out)<br><br>Ideas on making the bowl stay? I guess you could modify the cap, but it seems like a pain...

nothing against your choice in adult beverages, but would a beer bottle work well too? specifacally a certain british brewer with an unreal oatmeal stout or maybe a french canadian brew that uses a 750 ml bottle. Or do you use clear bottles that you may see whats going on inside the machine part.&nbsp;or for that matter, any wine bottle

I've been told this trick to cut bottles:
1) tightly tie a thick cord previously dipped in alcohol around the bottle
2) put the cord on fire
3) when the fire is over, plunge the bottle in a bucket of cold water.
This results in a clean safe cut, with no chaos theory involved. ;)

I will have to try this and see if I am any good at it.

hmmmmmm that sounds smart. I'm going to experiment with that.
I sometimes wash my herbal water pipe (Y'all know what im talkin bout) with alcohol to clean it... sometimes I light the alcohol to see fireshows... but now that I think of it rapid cooling could break it)

thats not a vape, a vape just heats up the thc crystals from the buds snd lets off vapor, thats what happends when you smoke, but u burn the plant, nit just the crystals

No, a vape just heats up the entirety of any herb you use. Be it cannabis, tobbacco, or any other herb. Besides, the crystals (Resin glands) are not the only part of weed that has THC. Most of it is actually contained in the plant matter.

Worked off of a bit of different build, Teh Vaporizer's, and made a few changes, namely, using a 1/2 inch copper pipe cap seated on the heating element into which the other (3/8 inch cap) could be placed and changed out easily. http://tehvaporizer.blogspot.com/<br><br>http://picasaweb.google.com/101644146320194799735/SnowmageddonVAPe?feat=directlink

&nbsp;Cheap and easy vaporizer:

Easy yes, cheap no. You'll be paying for it tenfold through your diminished health. Light bulb glass was never meant to be used to vaporize a consumable, and the toxic substances lining the bulb weren't either.

You should really check out this link it shows and easy and precise way to cut a glass bottle in half. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yViiVLlaQag&amp;feature=related

In keeping with the convection method, is it safe and effective to use a hair dryer instead of a soldering iron?

As far as effective, no, the hair dryer does not reach the temperatures necessary to vaporize most chemical that are in herbs (or in herb). However, if you were to open up the blowdryer and locate the cutoff sensor, (it is a bimetallic strip that turns off the heating element at approximately 140 degrees) then it would reach much higher temperatures. THC and similar cannaboids vaporize at around 200-220 degress Farenheit. The upside of a blowdryer is that you could lower the motor speed and have it fill a bag like the Volcano vaporizers. As far as safety, it would pose no great threat to your health, the element is made of nichrome which does not oxidize at high temperatures and doesn't produce harmful toxins to my knowledge. Good luck, I think I'll try this.

Scratch that part about removing the sensor, you would need to bypass it. A heat gun woul suffice, and require no modification, those are available at hardware stores at reasonable prices.

smokin weed itsnt addictive its jest fun to do;D

One thing to keep in mind about the fittings is anything brass or copper it would be a great advantage to you to soak them in two parts vinegar and one part hydrogen peroxide to remove excess lead.<br />

I was wondering, did you stick a different piece of wire inside the heater core, because it looks like you did.<br />

how safe is vinil?

even though they use it on commercial vaporizers, it's not safe in my opinion. If you must use it make sure you don't expose it to any heat at all. They say its only safe somewhere under 200 degrees. Vaporizers go well above that. Brass tubing works fine. I know it's pricey but lung cancer is way more expensive ;).

thanx, i found steel its short but its the flexable joint kind used to house wires, and i think im gonna use that

Make sure not to expose that to the high heats. My original vaporizer used steel pipe around the soldering iron and when I heat tested it it smoked :( I'm uneasy about steel. Make sure to still use a copper or brass bowl. You might even put some copper pipe off the end of the bowl between the bowl and the tube to cool the vapor some more before it gets to the steel. And make sure to wash it super well ;)

i thaught steel was what they used in metal pipes? either way im gonna make shure it doesn't get to hot, and thanks again for the tip, you have been really helpfull

they do use steel in most regular smoking pipes, not in vaporizers though. with a regular pipe the metal is only heated for a few moments while the lighter is on it and while what ever you just lit up is being burned. <br />

Steel is just iron and carbon, and seeing as your bodily function depends on iron, and you are (presumabley) a carbon-based life form, it shouldn't do you too much harm, although all bets are off when you are introducing hot substances to your delicate lung tissue.

yeah, but you're assuming that the manufacturer made the steel with 100% pure iron and carbon which unless you're paying a high price i don't think you're gonna get
usually fresh water pipes are copper for drinking purposes and drainage/waste are steel (or other material) cuz they're cheaper

How about the fish tank tubing... I think it is made of silicone

Illegal Drugs + Instructables.....
I don't like so much.....
Perhaps post this on a druggie forum, not on a website with an audience that consists of people of all ages...

Illegal is a regional and usage thing ;)
As s/he said... some herbs are illegal in some areas, and others aren't :p Tobacco, for instance, is legal almost everywhere (with restrictions).

Regardless... no matter what one uses this to smoke, it's still a bad for one's body.
Instructables shouldn't give kids cheap ways to kill themselves (via drugs or tobacco)

Marijuana has shown to have no adverse effects or side affects. no damage to lungs, brain or any other organs.<br />

Fair enough :p But in order for instructables to keep what seems like an "open to anything" policy -- you'll end up with things that can be used illegally.... And the users of these thingers will argue "It's not smoking" -- which, technically is true - nothing is burned, tarred, combusted etc. But that doesn't mean it's not going to get you addicted :/

I guess you're right. <br/><br/>I'm sorry for making a big deal out of this Vapoking, just don't hurt yourself using this. Remember, drugs are '<strong>bad</strong>, M'kay?<br/>

which drugs?
caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, teine (the one's that in the tea), melatonine, adrenaline, dopamine, DMT (the one that create your dreams at nite), endorphines?
or you're talking about the drugs that were used for thousands of years prior its banning less than 100 years ago?
be serious people, what i do with my body it's my desicion, and i won't blame anyone else for it, nor let anyone else decide for me. if you are ignorant about the things you enter your body (like the people who drink alcohol without knowing how dangerous it is, despite their knowledge on its corrosive properties), it's not my problem, and i shouldn't be banned from doing what i decide to do. don't discriminate illegal drugs from legal drugs, remember that that's an imaginary line, and it's proven that legal drugs aren't much safer than illegal ones.
>O.o<

Assuming that the lethal dose of marijuana *Im the first one to say the M word :P*, that means you'll have to smoke something like 1000-2000 grams to POTENTIALLY overdose.
The thing is that THC has never clinically killed someone
But assuming 1000 grams, that means a stoner will have to buy 2.5 POUNDS of the stuff... and figure out how to smoke that much within 5 minutes. BTW thats close to 5 thousand dollars worth of ganja.

actually, scientists have determined that the amount of marijuana needed to be smoke for you to OD on the THC, is 1500 POUNDS of it (no BS, thats seriously the amount) and ud need to smoke that in 15 minutes or less. I don't think anyone has 3 million to spend on weed, nor do I think they can smoke that in under 15 minutes ;)

anyone know the amount if you cook with the THC???

They would pass out after the first 5 grams, ten if they are a seirous toker, and if they are a complete permafried smoke-craploads-every-day kinda person, then 15. this is coming from someone i know who is a drug dealer. It would take insane amounts of tolerance in order to not "green-out" after the first five grams.

I believe you would die from smoke inhalation quicker than you would from over dose.